Ski pants

ABSTRACT

Ski pants that are detachably connected to the side of the sole of ski boots thereby eliminating the necessity for straps under the instep of the foot inside the boot.

United States Patent 1191 Engel 1111 3,839,739 1451' Oct. 8, 1974 SKI PANTs [76] inventor: Ernst Engel, 1407 Broadway, New

York, NY. 10018 [22] Filed: Feb. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 226,172

[52] us. c1. 21232 51 1m.c1 ..A4ld 1/08 [58] Field of Search 2/232, 232 A, 227; 36/15 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,736,0i3 11/1929 Peacheynii 36/].5 FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS 1,196,734 5/1959 Francejmn; 2 232 3l6,,065 Great Britain Q. 36/].5

7/1929 9,192 i 1887 Great Britain 2/232 1,435,980 3/1966 France 2/232 82,732 2/l964 France .l 2/232 970,698 Great Britain 2/232 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James J. McKeever, Esq.

[57] ABSTRACT Ski pants that are detachably connected to the side of vthe sole of ski boots thereby eliminating the necessity for straps under the instep of the foot inside the boot.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures SKI PANTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to ski pants that are detachably connected to the side of the sole of ski boots.

Heretofore, ski pants have always had a strap of elastic or of some other form that was fitted around and under the instep of a persons foot and then the foot and of a plastic foam into a hard plastic shell boot and as this foam hardens, it conforms to the exact shape of the foot. Even before the advent of the hard tight fitting ski boots a problem did exist, to a certain degree with pres-- sure points that might form around the ankles and other boney areas of the foot because of folds in material that would be inside of the boot. Since the advent of the present hard plastic ski boots this problem has been accentuated and with the molded foam ski boots it is even more of a concern to skiers.

These folds, seams and stiches press against the skin and bones of the foot and cause irritation and blisters. When this happens to any significant degree it could make it impossible for a skier to ski because of the pain. In filling the molded foam ski boots, if a person wears no ski pants when the foam is molded around the foot the mold makes no provisions for the strap around the instep. When the boots are subsequently worn with ski pants inside pressure points are formed then irritation and pain occurs. Furthermore, if a person does wear ski FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG.

s i FIG. 4 is a rear prospective view of ski pants and ski boot,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of lower portion of ski pant leg,

FIG. 6 is a prospective rear view of attaching means,

' FIG. 7 is a prospective front view of attaching means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1 is shown a ski boot 11, a ski pant leg 12, an extension of ski pants material 13 from the bottom .of the ski pants, attaching means 140 on pant leg extension 13, and attaching means 14a and 14b are shown in the detached position ready to be attached. The attaching means 14a and 14b may be respectively connected to the pant leg extension 13 by any suitable means such as strong thread and to the ski boot sole l5 by'any suitable means such as screws, nails, cement, molding, etc.

In FIG. 2 is shown ski boot 21, pant leg 22, extension of ski pant leg material 23 attaching means 24a on pant leg extension 23 and attached to attaching means 24b on the sole 25 of the boot 2].

In F IG; 2 the attaching in means 24a and 24b are connected and the ski pant 22 is held taut.

In FIG. 3 which is taken on line 33' of FIG. 2 is shown ski boot 31, extension of pant leg material 33,

' attaching means 34a on the pant leg extension 33, in

pants when the ski boot is molded, the mold is'formed for that particular pair of ski pants. When the skier wears a different pair of pants the ski boots do not fit properly and irritation occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been found that ski pants can be made that have all the desirable characteristics of being taut, wrinkle-free and stylish-looking and yet completely eliminate the problem of instep straps and thereby completely eliminating the cause of irritation and pain. These new and novel ski pants comprise a fastening means at the bottom of both sides of each leg of the ski pants. The ski pants are open as are regular pants and have no straps connected around the bottom of each of the pant legs. as ski pants presently have. When the ski pants of the present invention are worn the attaching means at the bottom of the ski pant leg are detachably connected by an attaching means that can be connected to the side of the sole of any pair of ski boots. I

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Novel features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood and apparentto one skilled in the art from reading the following description and by reference to the appended drawing, wherein FIG. I is a prospective view of left boot and ski pant leg, I

FIG. 2 is a side elevation 'view of left pant leg,

the engaged position with attaching means 34b on the ski boot sole 35.

In FIG. 4 is shown ski boot 41, ski pants 42, extension of pant leg material 43, attaching means 44a on pant leg extension 43, attaching means 4403b on ski boot sole 45 and an optional zipper 46.

In FIG. 5 is shown ski pant leg 52, extension of pant leg material 53,-attaching means 54a on pant leg extension 53 and optional zipper 56.

In FIG. 6 is shown an attaching means 64b which may be connected to the sole of any skiboot.

In FIG. 7 is shown an attaching means 74b connected to ski boot sole 75.

All ski pants arepresently made with a strap of elastic material or some other material which when worn fits around the instept of the foot and since present day ski pants are made of stretch material the ski pants are kept taut, wrinkle-free and stylish looking.

The ski pants of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 are made with no strap at the bottom but have an extension of material 13 that fits over the outside of the ski boot l1 and reaches down to the side of the sole 15 of the ski boot where this extension of material is detachably connected 14a and 14b to the side of the sole of the ski boot 15. It should be noted that while in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the atboot and ski taching means is attached to the sole 15 of the attaching means can be placed at any convenient place on the side of the boot 11. The attaching means may be any type such as hook and eye, tongue and. grove, snap, bottom, Velcro tape, which is a plastic meshing materials which when pressed together forms a holding connection, or any other suitable rust free attaching means. The preferred embodiment of my invention .with respect to the attaching means is 'the hook and eye wherein the eye member 14b is substantially wider'than the hook member 14a thereby permitting sliding movement therebetween in accordance with movement of material out of which the attaching means is made is also a matter of choice. ldeally the attaching means should be made of rust free, unbreakable, strong material. Of course the attaching means could also be made of non-rust free material and be not so strong and be breakable if this were desired without deverting from the spirit of the present invention. However, this would not be economically practicable. The preferred materials for the attaching means are stainless steel, hard anodized aluminum or hard plastic and they should be thin and light weight. The most preferred material that has the characteristics of being rust free, unbreakable, strong and yet be thin and light weight is stainless steel.

In practice, the ski pants ofthe present invention are put on and then the ski boots are put on as shown in FIG. 2. The extension of the stretch material 23 of the ski pants is then pulled down over the side of the ski boots 21 and each leg is detachably connected by attaching means 24a and 24b to the sides of the sole 25 of the ski boots. Not only does this accomplish eliminating the irritation and pain accompanying the use of straps around the instep and still keep the ski pants taut, wrinkle-free and stylish looking but by pulling the ski pants over the boot the problem of wet snow accumulating around the top of the boot while skiing or walking in deep snow and thereafter melting and causing the feet to become wet, cold and uncomfortable is also eliminated. Furthermore, the ski pants of the present invention may be fitted with a detachably connected elastic strap that will enable the wearer of the ski pants of the present inventionto wear these novel ski pants with after-ski boots or any regular shoes other than ski boots. An optional zipper 56 as shown in FIG. may also be added to the back of the ski pants 52 to make fitting over a ski boot easier.

What is claimed is:

1. In a ski pant trouser garment for wearing with ski boots having an engaging device on the outside surface of said boots, the improvement which comprises a pair of extending straps depending from the lower end of each trouser leg, said lower end of said trouser leg being free of any rigid framing material, said straps being positioned at the inner and outer seam, and the dependent endof each strap being provided with a device for releasably attaching to said engaging device on said boot, whereby said trouser leg is held taut, said device for releasably attaching to said boot being of a differing dimension than said engaging device on said boot, thereby said attaching device on said dependent end being capable'of sliding with respect to said engaging device on said boot in accordance with the movement of the wearers ankle.

2. The garment of claim 1 wherein said extending straps comprise integral extensions of said trouser leg.

3. The garment of claim 1, wherein said attaching de- 4. In combination with ski boots, said boots being constructed of rigid material and having a thick sole, an engaging device on the outside surface of said boots, a ski pant trouser garment for wearing with ski boots, the improvement which comprises a pair of extending straps depending from the lower end of each trouser leg, said lower end of said trouser leg being free of any rigid framing material, said straps being positioned at the inner and outer seam, and the dependent end of each strap being provided with a device for releasably attaching to said boot, whereby said trouser leg is held taut, said device for releasably attaching to said boot being of a differing dimension than an engaging device on said boot, thereby said attaching device on said dependent end being capable of sliding with respect to said engaging device on said boot in accordance with the movement of the wearers ankle.

5. ln the combination of claim 4 wherein said extending straps comprise integral extensions of said trouser leg.

6. In the combination of claim 4 wherein said attaching device comprises an upwardly directed rigid tongue affixed to the inner surface of said straps, said engaging device comprising with a bracket mounted on the side of said boot and said tongue being engageable therewith. 

1. In a ski pant trouser garment for wearing with ski boots having an engaging device on the outside surface of said boots, the improvement which comprises a pair of extending straps depending from the lower end of each trouser leg, said lower end of said trouser leg being free of any rigid framing material, said straps being positioned at the inner and outer seam, and the dependent end of each strap being provided with a device for releasably attaching to said engaging device on said boot, whereby said trouser leg is held taut, said device for releasably attaching to said boot being of a differing dimension than said engaging device on said boot, thereby said attaching device on said dependent end being capable of sliding with respect to said engaging device on said boot in accordance with the movement of the wearer''s ankle.
 2. The garment of claim 1 wherein said extending straps comprise integral extensions of said trouser leg.
 3. The garment of claim 1, wherein said attaching device comprises an upwardly directed rigid tongue, affixed to the inner surface of said straps, said engaging device comprising a bracket mounted on the side of said boot and said tongue being engageable therewith.
 4. In combination with ski boots, said boots being constructed of rigid material and having a thick sole, an engaging device on the outside surface of said boots, a ski pant trouser garment for wearing with ski boots, the improvement which comprises a pair of extending straps depending from the lower end of each trouser leg, said lower end of said trouser leg being free of any rigid framing material, said straps being positioned at the inner and outer seam, and the dependent end of each strap being provided with a device for releasably attaching to said boot, whereby said trouser leg is held taut, said device for releasably attaching to said boot being of a differing dimension than an engaging device on said boot, thereby said attaching device on said dependent end being capable of sliding with respect to said engaging device on said boot in accordance with the movement of the wearer''s ankle.
 5. In the combination of claim 4 wherein said extending straps comprise integral extensions of said trouser leg.
 6. In the combination of claim 4 wherein said attaching device comprises an upwardly directed rigid tongue affixed to the inner surface of said straps, said engaging device comprising with a bracket mounted on the side of said boot and said tongue being engageable therewith. 